The invention relates to a method for producing selectively collated print products, for example newspapers or magazines, using a production section, for example a gathering and wire-stitching machine or a perfect binder, a control device, a transfer-out device for transferring out defective print products, as well as means for detecting the gaps created by transferring out print products.
The selective production of print products, also referred to as “selective binding,” is known wherein different editions of a print product, such as a catalogue, are produced during the same production run. For example, one catalogue may be more voluminous than another catalogue or the one catalogue may contain different order form inserts. “Selective binding” makes it possible to produce different products during the same production run that meet the specific requirements of the addressees.
However, breakdowns in production or other malfunctions, which necessitate the transfer out of damaged or defective print products, are a problem since transferred-out products must be replaced. Since several comparatively complex operations are required for producing print products, such malfunctions are unavoidable in practical operations with high production outputs. For example, the several complex operations may include the cutting to size of a print product in a cutting machine; the collating, wire-stitching, perfect binding, or thread stitching; affixing of address labels; stacking; and the turning of print products. If products must be transferred-out during the so-called “selective binding” process, known methods lead to an extremely involved and manual operation for the most part, which considerably adds to the production costs. The following methods for closing the above-defined gaps are known from prior art.
With the so-called “reorder/remake” technique, products that are transferred-out as a result of a production malfunction are re-produced and subsequently added manually to the individual packages to be mailed. However, this operation is comparatively expensive and involved since the subsequently produced products must be inserted manually into the correct stack and/or into the correct package.